Monday, May 26, 2008

Vietnam's new power plants

HA NOI — Nine new power plants are expected to come into operation this year, minimising power shortages nationwide, according to Electricity of Viet Nam(EVN).

Nhon Trach 1 thermo-electricity plant’s first turbine in the southern province of Dong Nai begins running today at full design capacity of 150MW, reports Viet Nam Machinery Installation Corporation (Lilama), the main builder of the plant.

The turbine has been connected to the national network.

Nhon Trach 1 thermo-electricity plant, backed by Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) and Electricity of Viet Nam, has total design capacity of 450 MW, including two air turbines and one gas turbine.

Lilama expects to bring a second air turbine into operation next month and have the plant fully operational by April .

Construction begins at Uong Bi

Uong Bi Thermo-electricity Company began construction of the expanded Uong Bi Thermo-electricity plant 2 in the northern province of Quang Ninh yesterday. The plant which will have an annual capacity of 330MW was backed by total investment capital of about US$220 million. The plant, covering an area of 6.6 ha, will be equipped with facilities from Chinese Chengda Engineering Corporation. Le The Ba, director of Uong Bi Thermo-electricity Company, said the new plant will be installed with modern technology facilities, which will significantly help reduce its production cost. Once in operation, Uong Bi thermo-electricity plant will supply 1.980 billion kwh per year to the national electricity network.

Construction of Nhon Trach 1, the third biggest thermo electricity plant in Viet Nam, began last March. The plant’s total investment capital is about US$380 million.

Nhon Trach and Ca Mau thermo electricity plants, expected to be connected to the national electricity network by the end of this month, will supply about 12 billion kWh per year, accounting for about 20 per cent of the nation total electricity.

EVN said that it would put six more electricity plants ,with a total capacity of nearly 1,400 MW, into operation this year.

By the end of this month, EVN will connect the second turbine at Tuyen Quang hydroelectricity plant to the national network. The third turbine is expected to begin generating electricity in September .

In August, the first turbine of Pleikrong hydro-electricity plant will become operational.

In October, the second turbine at the Pleikrong plant and the first turbine at the Ba Ha River hydro-electricity plant will begin generating.

The second turbine at the Ba Ha River plant and the first turbine at Buon Kuop are expected to start generating electricity in November. The first turbine at Hai Phong 1 thermoelectricity plant is also planned to come into operation late 2008.

In addition to these targets, EVN hopes to connect the first turbine of O Mon thermo-electricity plant in October and the first turbine of A Vuong hydro-electricity plant in December.